By Reuters. The New York Times. January 11, 2000
HAVANA (Reuters) - Repression of Cuban dissidents rose in 1999, with the number of political prisoners up to 344 by year's end and a further 262 activists temporarily rounded up during November and December, a rights' group said on Tuesday.
``I consider that the situation of civil and political rights in Cuba worsened during last year,'' said Elizardo Sanchez, who heads the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation, the organization that compiled the figures.
The group, itself a dissident organization that President Fidel Castro's communist government does not recognize, said in a six-monthly report that Cuban jails held 344 political prisoners at the end of 1999, up from 324 six months before.
That ``partial'' list did not include another 57 presumed political prisoners, whose status had not, however, been confirmed by family members, the group added.
In the last two months of 1999, security forces temporarily detained 262 other dissidents. They also ordered another 196 to remain at home or otherwise restricted their movement to prevent anti-government meetings and demonstrations.
Of those 262, the majority were freed after short periods of up to several days in prison, but at least 11 -- including well-known activists Oscar Elias Biscet and Maritza Lugo -- remained in jail, the group said.
``I consider that the majority of this last group who are still detained could be tried, leading to new prison sentences for political motives,'' Sanchez added.
He attributed the findings of increased political repression principally ``to the fact that Cuba is still the only closed society in this hemisphere.''
There were no significant releases of political prisoners during 1999, while authorities began more legal proceedings against dissidents and also carried out ``the biggest waves of political repression of the last decade,'' he added.
Havana denies it holds political prisoners, saying all inmates are there for legitimate crimes in a penal code that outlaws various forms of ``counter-revolutionary activity.''
Castro's government also denies it suppresses freedom of speech. It argues its one-party socialist system is more ``truly democratic'' than the Western multi-party model because it allows debate at all levels of the ruling Communist Party.
All internal opponents are really U.S.-backed ''mercenaries'' and ``traitors'' trying to pass themselves off as democracy activists, the government alleges.
Sanchez' commission is the best-known human rights monitoring group in Cuba. Its information, based on interviews with families, is generally well-regarded by diplomats in Havana and foreign rights' groups.
The commission's total of 344 political prisoners in Cuba is considerably lower than that given by some dissident groups on the island and anti-Castro groups outside. Some of those groups put the figure at double or more.
The last major release of political prisoners in Cuba came after Pope John Paul II's landmark visit to the Caribbean nation in early 1998. More than 100 political prisoners were included then among several hundred inmates freed as a goodwill gesture to the Vatican after the pontiff's trip.
Havana dashed speculation of another goodwill release prior to the November 1999 Ibero-American Summit of heads of state from Latin America, Spain and Portugal.
Government officials made it clear there would be no more releases on petition from foreign dignitaries.
Havana never gives numbers of prisoners and seldom confirms arrests. It often accuses foreign journalists of encouraging dissidents or distorting information about them.
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